Upcoming and a switch

Hello all! And yes, before you throw rotton tomatoes at me for not posting later this week but hey, I was busy! Busy with forming new alliances with organizations, busy with phone calls, runs and workouts but I know, there is no excuse and I should't be making any but my apologies, nonetheless.

With the last posting of going home, I was inspired (once again!) by talking to a great guy who I got in touch with about running for the Med Center One Cancer Care Center and he is the Executive Director of the Med Center One Foundation who helps many in different areas and we shot out a bunch of ideas and got to know each other more. And it was fun because we have that same energy with everything we do!

So, look forward to me running on behalf of the Med Center One Foundation and trying to keep everything home based or nearby. Next stop will be the North Dakota Diabetes Coalition with helping out with them and then, helping out my Reservation where I grew up on. And it was quite funny that I called on my lunch break to talk to someone who could help me out with running for the reservation for diabetes prevention and awareness but after being routed to many different numbers, I got the right location and sure enough, after being polite and introducing myself, and explaining about me running for charities....he hung up on me. Rude, yes but will it stop me? No.

Coming in September is a race that a lot of people have been waiting for, Jeff Turning Heart Sr. vs. Jeff Turning Heart Jr., and you don't need to adjust your eyes, I said it, Senior vs. Junior, to run for diabetes during the Labor Day Fair in my hometown, Eagle Butte, South Dakota. Senior agreed to it and I will send out more information when time gets near. A race that I am looking forward to because we have never EVER raced against each other. We tried but failed at times to get this race going but now, I will do my best to keep it active on my roster.

Another switch I have is that I was intended to run the Chicago half marathon, the Bank of America Marathon in October but they closed the registration because they have capped out, meaning that they filled all the slots for the race. But have no fear, I will be changing it to the Twin Cities Marathon, on the same date, October 7th. Good planning on my end but still a bit sad that I will not be running in the Chicago Marathon, my dream run but next year.....it will happen.

Now, after reading through the online newspaper, the Bismarck Tribune, a story caught my eye that dealt with a fellow runner, a teacher out of Montana who went missing during her early morning run and so far, the details are quite sketchy because they found her shoe and then have suspects in custody and the FBI came in to investigate as they found a body part and it has spurred a lot of people to care for this lady and her family and I feel for her and many other female runners that are attacked or kidnapped.

So, after reading the online article, it mentioned that they are going to have a virtual run in honor of her, her name is Sherry Arnold and this run is however you want to approach it, run a mile, run 20 miles or beyond because just run for Sherry, and if you go to http://www.shutupandrun.net/, they have a printable bib to wear on your run and this run is not only here in North Dakota but in the town where Sherry lived at and even in Canada, and if you want to see the article, it is online at http://www.bismarcktribune.com/ and donations can be made on the Shut Up and Run website and bracelets are available too. You can bet that I am wearing my bib proudly on Saturday and even donating to the family she left behind.

So, I encourage you to do your part in honoring a wonderful woman during the dark time and sad news. Be the miracle and be the strength for others. God bless you.